| Gender Equality and Family Minister Kim Hyun-sook speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the Government Complex Seoul, June 2. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Minister calls for international cooperation in coping with dark side of digital era
By Jun Ji-hye
The digital era has made people's lives much more convenient and easier, offering effective communication tools and virtually eliminating borders. But at the same time, the unintended dark sides of information technology, such as surveillance and declining privacy, are causing grave problems for many.
Gender Equality and Family Minister Kim Hyun-sook said one of the most serious and dark aspects of rapid digitalization around the world is the increase in online sex crimes, among others.
“There are no borders in digital sex offenses, thus international cooperation is necessary,” Minister Kim said during an interview with The Korea Times at her office in Seoul, June 2.
Online sex offenses refer to various kinds of sex crimes, including sexual violence and illegal production and distribution of pornography, which take place in cyberspace by using digital devices.
Several shocking cases have been already reported in Korea such as the “Nth room” case in 2020, in which the perpetrator blackmailed dozens of people including underage girls into performing violent sex acts and then sold access to the videos through the messenger application Telegram.
The case became an impetus for Korea to overhaul relevant laws to impose harsher punishments.
The minister said Korea and the international community have been focusing a discussion on the issue in recent years, mentioning her participation in the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), a United Nations session on promoting gender equality and women's rights that was held in New York in March.
“Many countries shared their concerns about digital sex crimes that have deepened over recent years,” Kim said. “I introduced how the Korean government has coped with the crimes, such as establishing a policy for punishing offenders involving online grooming.”
Online grooming refers to tactics abusers deploy through online communication to build relationships and establish emotional connections with vulnerable people, commonly children, with the intention of sexually exploiting them.
Since September 2021, online grooming has become subject to criminal punishment in Korea under the revised act on the protection of children and juveniles against sexual abuse.
In a bid to support those who have fallen victim to online sex crimes, the minister also noted the Women's Human Rights Institute of Korea under the direct control of her ministry has provided various services such as removing exploitative materials and blocking their distribution as well as counseling.
“When I met Sima Sami Bahous, executive director of U.N. Women, in New York, she said Korea has shown 'best practices' on tackling online sex crimes,” Kim said. “We will continue to push for relevant policies that are centered on victims and bring tougher punishments against offenders.”
| Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Hyun-sook, right, shakes hands with Sima Sami Bahous, executive director of U.N. Women, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, March 7. Courtesy of Ministry of Gender Equality and Family |
Achieving full gender equality still while away
As for gender equality issues, Minister Kim assessed that Korea has seen major improvements regarding gender discrimination in the country's legal system, but it has yet more plans to improve the low ratio of female politicians and the salary gap between genders.
Korea ranked 99th among 146 countries in the 16th Global Gender Gap Report announced by the World Economic Forum last year.
The report, which assesses overall gender disparity across politics, work, health and education, is an index to measure gender equality. For the 13th consecutive year, Iceland has topped the index on the back of its high scores of educational attainment and a high percentage of women in government.
Korea has also failed to break away from the dishonor of taking the No. 1 position in the difference between the median full-time earnings of men and women, among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Korea posted 31.1 percent in the gender wage gap as of 2021, according to the organization, meaning that women earned 31.1 percent less than men on average. This was far higher than the OECD average of 11.9 percent.
“Resolving the gender salary gap is one of our biggest tasks to achieve gender equality in the area of economy,” Kim said. “Women's salaries in Korea tend to increase until they are in their late 30s and turn to a decrease afterward. This is compared to men's salaries that continue to increase until they are in their early 50s.”
The major cause for decreasing salaries of women is their career break following marriage which usually accompanies having and raising children. Sometimes, women opt for low-wage or temporary positions when they seek reemployment after a long career break, the minister said.
“Last year, we changed our policy paradigm from supporting reemployment to preventing career breaks. We have since pushed for measures to keep women from leaving the workforce mid-career,” Kim said.
The minister said resolving career break problems facing women would also help overcome the country's record-low birthrate.
Korea's total fertility rate was 0.78 last year, breaking the country's own record for the world's lowest level.
“It is not easy to hold down a job and take care of a child at the same time. In addition, childcare is a source of huge financial burden. These have made women hesitate to have children,” Kim said.
“The ministry will work to contribute to improving job situations for women and expanding childcare support to create a culture calling for 'working together and looking after children together.'”
Kim noted that in the latter half of the year, the ministry will concentrate on advancing the government's childcare support by completely overhauling systems to nurture personnel specializing in such services.
“I will speed up efforts for this task, so people can actually feel the effects of changes in childcare policies from next year,” she said.